![]() ![]() ![]() So one of the reasons I think Barry had such a good time turning it into his own screenplay is that there were things he could just kind of unfold right there. (Laughs) And would probably have some theaters not ever wanting to work with me again. All of the instructions in the original script "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" are like "CUT TO: Black washing his face," and "CUT TO: Little standing in the middle of a field." So to try to put that on stage would be - crazy, I think. So for example, there are no "Lights up on" or "Curtain opens on" or "Enter stage left" sort of instructions. It was always scripted in a way that was about the visual life of it. With the movie's buzz and imminent success, are there any plans for it to be performed or published now?Ībsolutely not. I'd been hoping to read your original play before we talked, but I'm told it was never actually published or performed. I love the art of collaborating, especially with someone as talented as Barry. And I also knew Barry could bring to it something that I just could not. But after Barry showed me one of his first cuts of the film, I did know that there was something beautiful about it. Let's just say I could not have expected this to happen. I always knew that it would be better served as a film than a play, but I always thought that it would be something kind of small and independent. NBC OUT spoke to McCraney - who's also the writer of the acclaimed "Brother/Sister Plays" trilogy, as well as a Steppenwolf Theatre member and the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant - about the phenomenal "Moonlight" on the eve of its Friday opening.ĭid you ever envision anything like this when you were writing "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue?" Masterfully directed by Jenkins, flawlessly acted by a fantastic cast, and giving an unprecedented glimpse into what it means to be young and poor and black and gay in America, the film is also powerfully universal as the story of one man's quest for identity. With McCraney's blessing, Jenkins converted the story into "Moonlight," and the rest is now cinematic history in the making. While searching for ideas to follow up his 2008 film festival hit "Medicine for Melancholy," Jenkins came across "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" - and while not himself gay, Jenkins was strongly moved by Chiron's story, especially since it otherwise mirrored Jenkins' own difficult Liberty City upbringing (McCraney and Jenkins even went to the same elementary and middle schools, though they never met as children). The film also follows the arc of Chiron's relationship with his childhood friend Kevin, a powerful and sexually charged bond that shifts dramatically over the film's three chapters, following them from age 10 to age 16, then jumping ahead to their early 30s.Īfter creating his original project, McCraney headed to London for a writing residency with the Royal Shakespeare Company and nearly forgot about it, until it was discovered by director Barry Jenkins. Drawn from McCraney's memories of his own search for identity as a queer youth in Miami's poor and tough Liberty City neighborhood, "Moonlight" tells the story of young Chiron, who despite painfully losing his mother's attention to crack, is ironically taken under the protective and nurturing wing of a local drug dealer and his girlfriend (played by Janelle Monáe). Years ago when playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney wrote the deeply personal "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" as a drama school project, little could he have imagined that it would one day be turned into a major Hollywood movie, let alone one that would be generating serious 2017 Oscar buzz.
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